Story+1984-09-22+Pittsburgh,+PA

´´This is uh....this is a song about, uh....family and about, I guess, responsobility and your duty....and what happens when those things, when those things conflict....”
 * 22.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, intro to ‘Highway Patrolman´**

‘‘This is a song, it´s kind of....about like before I wanted to....before I wanted to be a guitar player....there was only one other thing I wanted to be....wanted to be a lover, no (chuckles)....no, I wanted to be a baseball player....now, I started when I was real young, was in Colonial League, then I was in Little League, then I was in Babe Ruth League, I´d amassed a career average by that time of 156....but I didn´t let it discourage me....but kind of what happened was by the time I got into Babe Ruth League, I was about 15 and I started to get interested in a couple of other things.... now, one of ´em was the guitar...and the other one....well, the guitar is the one I became proficient at....but the other one, I´m looking for some help to keep working on it....I´m gonna get it down (chuckles)....but anyway what happened was I used to do the rock and roll shows during the week and then I used to play, no, the baseball games were during the week and the rock and roll shows was on the weekend and so it worked out pretty good except one tme we had a game that got rained out and they rescheduled it for Saturday morning....so around 8 o´clock I hear ´em knock on my door....I´m laying in bed....I say ´Mom....I can´t make it....go down and tell those guys, you could tell ´em I´m sick, I got real sick last night and that there´s no way I can make the game, I´m sorry, I would if I could´, so she goes down there and she gets to go ´Boys, no, Bruce is too sick today´ (chuckles)....she´s lying through her teeth for me : ´He can´t make it, he´s so sick´, you know....and so they go away and I´m like, I snuggle back under the covers, you know, I feel real good....but then about 20 minutes later they come back !....and I hear ´em down there and they´re going....´Oh, Mrs.Springsteen....Bruce´s gotta come to the ballgame because we only got 8 guys and if he don´t come, we´re gonna forfeit the game, it´s gonna ruin the whole season, he´s gotta come, please, please´....so I hear all this going on and then I hear my mother say ´Well, go upstairs, boys, and talk to him yourself´, I say ´Oh´, so now I´m laying in bed and I gotta make believe like I´m really sick now, you know, I gotta....go for my Academy Award performance here....(coughs) I´m coughing and trying to make all these noises like I´m sick, I´m laying there in my bed, I always sleep with my guitar ....my bedroom looks just like this....my girlfriends, they don´t like it but they get used to it after a while....it´s like, so I´m laying there and they come up and they start begging me and stuff, you know, and I´m one of them people that when people start begging me, I can never say ´No´, you know....you know, if somebody like asks me for 20 cents on the street, I always give it to ´em, you know....but anyway, they´re begging me and so I finally get my baseball uniform on, I go down to the field....and they put me out in rightfield....my usual position....and you know I´m standing there, it´s not too bad, the weather´s kind of nice and I´m starting to wake up and we got a one run lead into the bottom of the eighth and I´m just kind of out there praying that nobody hits nothing to me and I´m standing there and I´m kind of starting to daydream a little bit.... and, and there´s this girl and she´s climbing over the outfield fence....she´s coming closer....she says ´It´s too hot to wear this baseball uniform´...we´re laying down in the grass.....and then all of a sudden, pfhhh!.....´I got it´....I lost it in the lights (chuckles) .....anyway, the runner scored, we lost the game, I suffered defeat and humiliation in front of my peers....and that was when I decided to give up sports and dedicate the rest of my life to rock and roll....didn´t let me down either....but anyway this song´s kind of about....you´re always out there meeting somebody telling you about these old stories ....all things must pass and in the end, Big Man, it’s just....que sera sera or something, I don´t know, glory days (?)....”
 * 22.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, intro to ‘Glory Days’**

‘‘There’s uh...there’s something really....really dangerous happening to us out there now ....(?)...where we live here is ....we’re slowly getting split up into two different Americas .... now...you know, things are getting taken away from the people ....that need ‘em and given to the people that don’t need ‘em....and, you know, there’s a promise getting broken and I think that in the beginning....the idea was we all live here a little bit some-what like a family where the strong can help the weak ones....the rich can help the poor ones....and uh....you know, the American Dream, I don’t think it was that everybody.... was gonna make it or everybody was gonna, you know, make a billion dollars but it was that everybody was gonna have the opportunity and a chance ....to live a life ....you know, with some decency and some dignity and a chance for some self-respect....and I know you gotta be feeling the pinch here where the rivers meet so....”
 * 22.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, intro to ‘The River’**

´´Now, once upon a time....in a land just east from here..... (....) Now there I was....I was but a young lad....many moons ago....I was still in high school but I was having trouble....they said I was anti-social, they sent me down to see the guidance counsellor...he said ´Mr.Springsteen, what´s the problem ?´....I said ´Sir, my problem is I don´t know what I wanna do with myself, I mean I don´t, I don´t know what I wanna be....I ain´t got no faith, I ain´t got no hope, I´m lost in the wilderness.... he said ´Oh, no, that´s, that´s too big a problem for me, you better go home and talk to your folks about that´....so I went home....I went in the kitchen....my father was sitting at the kitchen table....I said ´Dad, I got, I got a problem, I got something I really gotta talk to you about here, you see, see I don´t know what I wanna do with myself, I don´t know what I wanna be, I ain´t got no guidance, I ain´t got no faith, I ain´t got no hope, I´m lost´, he said ´Get me another beer out of the icebox´....I was almost finished....I was thinking about giving up...but then I went over to.....see a new friend of mine..... the Big Man himself....then we kind of went and we sat out on his frontporch.....and .....we decided that we was both lost, we both didn´t have no hope, we needed some faith, we needed some confidence, we needed some close, like close intimate relationship with members of the opposite sex.....so Clarence, being my buddy, said he knew these two girls that lived just out on the highway....and he´d be glad to get me a date with one of ´em.....thanks, pal....so we got into his Oldsmobile and we drove south.....south down Route 9....deep into Southern Jersey....deep into the pines.....it started raining, a storm blew up, a hurricane came by, a tornado started happening, we got hit by a heatwave but we kept driving on.....and finall....a fanbelt busted, steam started pouring out of the radiator....we got out beside of this dark dirt road.....but Clarence said he knew where there was a gas-station just on the other side of those woods....now, the woods was dark, they was spooky, there was noises coming from everywhere....sounded like werewolves (crowd howls)....sounded like lions (crowd roars)....sounded like homicidal cows (crowd moos)....and the wind was whistling through the trees (crowd whistles)....went past this big shadetree.....we could tell it was a shadetree because it had its shades on.....now, now, Big Man, there ain´t nothing like, there ain´t no dangerous, killer, wild animals or something ? I never heard of no killer animals like in New Jersey, like what about Bigfoot ? ain´t no Bigfoot, what about the Jersey Devil ?....ain´t nothing like no....I think I hear something behind us.... keep walking, keep walking....I hear something behind us....(cries) keep walking..... whooa !.....and there it was, this big man-eating grizzly bear.....but he was acting kind of friendly....he said that he wasn´t really mean, that he was just lonely out here in these woods.....he said that he ran away from the circus and he was looking for a couple of buddies....I could tell by the way he wore his hat that he was smarter than the average bear....but we told him our problems and he, and he said, he told us to follow him into the forest.....and then there in this clearing, the clouds came away from the moon ....and we saw the answers to our quests....then we stood there in the moonlight....and then....and then....when we touched...”
 * 22.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, intro to ‘Growin´Up´**

´´Alright....ladies and gentlemen....children of all ages....citizens of Pittsburgh.....and whoever the hell else is out there.....it is now time to introduce to you the illustrious, the industrious members of the E Street Band....I´d like to begin by introducing a gentleman to the, my far left.....he´s a man that not only does he have his grammar school diploma but a full high school diploma also....he gave up a scholarship to Yale University where he was studying for his BA in unusual sexual practises.....to join the 1984 tour with the E Street Band....he told ´em they could kiss his ass, he gave up higher education to rock the nation, on the piano, the complicated, the invigorated, the sexually liberated, the smart guy, ´Professor´ Roy Bittan....the brains of the whole operation....and next, on the vocals....from Long Branch, New Jersey, an alumni of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes....lookout, boys, she´s single, she hates to be alone, the lovely, the talented, the beautiful Miss Patti Scialfa....next, the man that puts the bass in your face and brings you the thunder from down under, his mother was a Tallent, his father was a Tallent, if he has some kids, they´re gonna be little Tallents, Mr.Garry W.Tallent on the bass....next, the man who puts the heat in the beat to get your asses out of your seat and moving your feet....the author of ´The Big Beat´, ´The Mighty One´, Max Weinberg....and now, ladies and gentlemen, on the organ, the (?), the inevitable, the unbelievable, the incourageable, the incredible, the unforgivable, the unimaginable, the unfathomable, the immoral, the original sinner, on the organ, ´Phantom´ Dan Federici....and next from South Jersey....the most unusual member of the E Street Band.....Jim the Dancing Bear.....and now, ladies and gentlemen, on the guitar.....the incredible Mr. Nils Lofgren (Nils plays ´Happy Birthday´ and the crowd joins in and then he does his trampoline stunt)....(chuckles)....and now, a man that needs no introduction....let´s just say that if there was any justice in the world, he´d be the next president of the United States....so gimme a C...L....A....R....E....N....C....E, what´s that spell ?.... what´s that spell ?.... what´s that spell ?....Clarence Big Man Clemons on the saxophone....”
 * 22.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, middle of ‘Rosalita´**

´´Oh, thank you, I´d like to take a minute and thank everybody for coming down to these shows that we did here in Pittsburgh....thank you very much....and I know, uh, it´s tough to get tickets sometimes and you gotta wait in line a long time and I want you to know we appreciate it....oh, when I was a kid, the first thing that, uh....made an impression on me was when I heard the music of Elvis Presley and uh....it kind of opened my mind up so....there was things that they couldn´t get through to me in school and I wasn´t learning at home, I wasn´t learning with my friends....just gave me a sense of, I guess, just a sense of living and uh.....I´ve been real fortunate in that I get to live out a little bit of my dream every night, you know....here´s, uh, here´s hoping you get to live out a little piece of yours....”
 * 22.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, intro to ´Born to Run´**

‘‘It ain’t midnight yet, is it ?....I’m gonna turn into a pumpkin when I hit 35....is it past midnight hour ?....I got ten minutes ?....I got two minutes ?....then let’s keep on rocking....”
 * 22.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, middle of ‘Detroit Medley’**

´´That´s all the songs we know....you gotta be tired....you´re just too proud to admit it ....oh, then there´s only one thing I can think to do, it´s a little early but let´s go, boys....let´s have some Christmas in September.... (....) Here he comes now....he must be still up in that North Pole right now....(?) has everybody been good ? you´ve been starting early ?....oh yeah....”
 * 22.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, intro to ´Santa Claus Is Coming to Town´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//